Pan - John Powell

10/10/15

What You Will Hear: John’s Powell’s usual use of the full orchestra, choir, and energetic percussion. (Think Dragons mixed with Bolt.) Oh, and be ready for some very strange rock tune arrangements.

Standout Tracks: Gold Star – Every track is worth your time!​Will You Be Humming Along? There are multiple themes that will stick with you after just a few listens. In addition to full themes, Powell gives us his usual collection of shorter motifs that help glue everything together.

The score this makes me want to dust off: Iron Will – Joel McNeely​Will I come back to it? Yes. John Powell’s scores are the some of the best of the modern era. Pan easily rises to this standard of excellence. The composer’s signature sound/instrumentation is on full display! As usual, you will find an amazing main theme. The opening track quickly treats us to a solo piano performing the main theme, and many variations follow. Powell has created a main theme that sounds incredible while blasting from the trumpets or singing from the strings. After multiple listens, I am still trying to transcribe and assign identities to everything else that is going on. There are a lot of secondary themes and motifs; each one is excellent. Pan’s action sequences are extremely well developed. While a little more frenetic than usual, these cues continue the thematic development. It is rare to find even a few measures where he’s just filling time. If the themes aren’t being utilized to score the action most composers create new or unrelated material. Powell, however, doesn’t accompany combat with simple noise. Instead, we get short but instantly amazing action motifs. They’re like tiny little statements shouting “This is awesome!!!” (see: trombones at 2:45 on Kidnapped/Galleon Dogfight) (see also: 0:30 on Flight Ship Fight) Just like the bigger themes, these statements also show up in a variety of voices and moods. You'll hear everything from fanfares to light latin dance ideas. No matter what is happening on screen, each musical passage is somehow related to the rest of what you’ve heard (see: Mine Escape). Along with Powell’s compositional consistency, it is worth pointing out the excellent instrumentation. His use of the bass instruments is masterful. He often utilizes these instruments to add weight to the action cues, but the voicing is never bombastic or overbearing. (I’m looking at you, other Remote Control-ites.) In modern scores, the synth is usually so powerful that it often takes away from the orchestra. The percussion writing is inventive and makes the score feel like a non-stop thrill ride. While some synth percussion can be heard, John Powell continues to rely on the real instruments for a natural sounding support structure. Add in his perfect writing for choir along with the orchestra, and you've got the magical Powell sound.

This score is heavier on action cues than Powell's other fantasy adventures. But, when on the lighter side, the score is still completely engrossing and just as tightly knit. Pan’s romantic and nostalgic tracks are almost as magical as anything found in the Dragons scores (see: A Warrior’s Fate). He makes it look (sound) so easy. The mix of soft strings, choir, and woodwinds make you feel like the Neverland fairies are dancing around you.The songs from Lilly Allen & Tim Rice-Oxley fit wonderfully in with Powell’s softer side. The strange arrangements of the Nirvana and The Ramones hits instantly caught my attention. Some might find them off-putting or distracting, but Powell’s take on these well known tunes just made me smile. As this is an out of context review, I love to think these songs help to establish the Blackbeard character’s motives and personality. The mixture of Powell’s consistency with fun songs make this album a complete package. Pan is one of the best scores of the year. Every moment is filled with a little bit of magic. John Powell has again proved that he is one of the greatest film composers in modern times.